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Season 8: Metal Madness
Metal Madness is the Eighth Season of VGCW. Unlike previous Seasons, this Season revolved around Two major Storylines; After laying low with their plans since the events of Season 5, The Practice reemerged with their most conniving scheme to date by attacking and converting VGCW Superstars into robots to do their bidding. The other Storyline deals with the fallout of the events that transpired at End Game 7, with the revelation that Boss Red, the supposed Leader of The Ring Rangers, was Johnny Cage, and that the real leader of the group was none other than Soldier Black, A.K.A. Guile. With the entire VGCW locker room out for him, and the threat of punishment, Johnny fought to clear his name by unmasking Guile as the true mastermind behind the masked group. Season 8 is the longest season of VGCW, lasting 17 episodes. The Stories So Far While we had heard talk of colourful masked men being spotted during Season 6, it was not until Last Season that The Ring Rangers made themselves known, attacking VGCW Superstars in an attempt to force the Title Scene to change around them. To combat this threat, two taskforces were sent after them; the already established Disciplinary Committee, and a new Stable formed by Assistant GM Adam Jensen, christened the Permanent Ranger Annihilation Termination Squad (or P.R.A.T.S.), comprised of Dan Hibiki and Billy & Jimmy Lee of The Dragons. Meanwhile, America was grasped in the middle of a Civil War; after Guile attacked Duke Nukem at End Game 6, the two were at loggerheads for weeks on end, eventually culminating in a match where Duke came out on top...but Guile rejected his hands and attacked him. Claiming he should be granted a Title Shot, he was interrupted by none other than The Dark Lord himself, with the intent of sending him back into the Midcard for getting too big for his boots. During a scuffle later on, Duke interrupted them both, arguing that, being 1-1 with both of them, challenged them both to a Triple Threat at End Game 7 to settle the score between the three of them, a match which, after a long and brutal brawl, ended with Guile one-upping Duke. But he wasn't done that evening... Meanwhile, the Committee and P.R.A.T.S. were hard at work, nmasking the Rangers one by one, until they were issued a challenge by the Leader of the Ring Rangers, Boss Red, a one on one match at End Game 7, and he would reveal his identity. Unable to pass up the challenge, the Committee and P.R.A.T.S. fought until the P.R.A.T.S. emerged victorious, granting Dan as Boss Red's opponent. And when the time finally came, it was revealed that Boss Red was, in fact, Johnny Cage, one of the participants of Star Road, and a wrestler in EDBW. But despite being the Leader, Cage found himself being accused of leading a malicious group that attacked people, a claim he denied, offering to clear things up by talking to another of the Ring Rangers. Who was this Ring Ranger? Soldier Black, also known as Guile. Guile was the True Mastermind behind the Ring Rangers, and Johnny had been set up to take the fall. Season 8 Plot 'Rise of the Machines' Right before the end of the opening show of Season 8, we're shown an unknown person making a call, mentioning a test subject they are working on, and that they will be the first of an army that will conquer the world. Meanwhile, Sonic the Hedgehog calls out Proto Man to explain his actions during the closing stages of End Game 7, and Proto claimed it was to deny Sonic from cashing in on the newly-crowned VGCW Champion Scorpion, an act Sonic denied as he didn't have the MitB Briefcase with him, but Proto countered his claim by stating that the Money in the Bank Briefcase does not have to be present to be able to cash-in. Sonic then challenged Proto to a match the following week, a match that not only Proto accepted, but managed to win convincingly. However, as soon as the match was over, a mysterious figure appeared from backstage that looked similar to Sonic's Tag-Team partner Knuckles the Echidna, only he looked a lot more...robotic. While both of them looked on in disbelief at what they were seeing, Sonic had had enough and left the arena, leaving Proto Man to eat an Emerald Cutter as 'Brass Knuckles' looked over his body. The following week, Mr. Satan announced to the VGCW Universe that he was retiring from wrestling to manage his daughter Videl in the Female Division, only to be interrupted by The Practice, who attacked him and tried to take him away for Roboticization, only to be saved by his former protege Dan Hibiki, and for one night only, Raw Power reunited to fight off The Practice. Meanwhile, Proto confronted Sonic over abandoning him, making note that Sonic had not seen Knuckles in a while. At the end of the show, Octodad and Zangief, who had wrestled against each other earlier in the evening, were discussing their match and Zangief challenged Octodad to a rematch for the following week, and while he was against it at first, he willingly accepted Zangief's request...while a certain person could be seen listening to their conversation. The following week, as Octodad came out for the match, Zangief didn't...but Mecha Zangief did. Stunned by his friend's mechanical new look, he tried to fight back against him, but was torn to shreds. As he tried to escape, Mecha Zangief attacked Octodad as The Practice and Brass Knuckles looked on. If it wasn't obvious by now, The Practice were the ones behind Knuckles' and Zangief's Robotization. The #MASTERPLAN was in effect. Seeking help to take down The Practice, Proto Man asked The Disciplinary Committee for their assistance, but they declined due to stuff like that being out of their jurisdiction, leading Proto Man to going after The Practice alone. Meanwhile, the P.R.A.T.S. were repeatedly approached by The Practice for no particular reason other than they were looking for Dan for a reason. Later on, they ended up having to face Brass Knuckles and Mecha Zangief in a Tag-Team match, and despite their teamwork, they were overwhelmed by the robots. Then The Practice came and joined their creations in attacking The Dragons, but before Dan could reach the ring to save his disciples he was knocked out from behind by a roboticized Little Mac, leaving his fate unknown. The Practice then turned their attention to an old enemy of theirs; Nappa, who disappeared and Vegeta was found unconsious by Proto Man backstage, obviously the victim of an attack by the evil pair. Confronting them, Proto Man bravely issued a challenge to the two to let him fight any of their robot army at the upcoming Chamber of Elimination PPV, a challenge that they accepted. While all this was going on, Barret Wallace was looking for his friend Flint, and when he found him, he was stunned by his appearance, for he too had been roboticized. The following week, Wily and Eggman unveiled their Robot army to the VGCW Universe, revealing that, along with their already accounted for inclusions, Dan and Nappa had been roboticized as well. After making note that they could easily conquer the world with what they had, they had another ace up their sleeve; Wario, roboticized as well. Later in the evening, Proto faced the newly-roboticized Dan, now dubbed "AIN. 004 Dandroid", the Dandroid easily defeated Proto, but before he could destroy him, Proto revealed that, this time, hope rode in pairs. Suddenly, Gray Fox appeared out of nowhere and hit the Stealth Ryder on the Dandroid, before Proto finished him off with the Blues Driver, equipping himself with Dan's finisher, the Prattitude Adjustment. Talking backstage with Adam, Proto revealed that he had shut Dan down and sent him to Doctor Light to undo his roboticization, and Fox revealed that, due to Proto saving his life in the past during the events of The Phoenix Cross, he owes him a favour. Later, Wily and Eggman were bickering over using the machine on a weak individual, before mentioning that the robots they have assembled so far are merely stepping stones for a primary target... A few weeks later they managed to save Nappa, who was dubbed "AIN. 004 Bald Man", by driving him through a Table with Vegeta's assistance, gaining his finisher, the High Angle Scoop Slam. Unfortunately, this would prove meaningless, as Eggman had created a "backup" a week later, and although Wily shouted at Eggman for not using it on a strong wrestler, he argued that their new ally would be of some use to them. Who was this wrestler? The beloved Chief Arino, now known as "AIN. 008 Metal Arino". Cries of horror rung thoughout the VGCW Universe. However, as time went on, it became increasingly obvious that the Robot Masters were more powerful than had been anticipated, and that not even Proto Man and Gray Fox could beat them alone. But, while some came close, a Robot Master would eventually lose, as M. Bison managed to overcome Wario, dubbed "AIN. 007 Wariobot", although The Practice were able to take him away before Proto could get to him. Finally, after weeks of backlash, General Manager Gabe Newell relinquished Proto Man of his Robot Master fighting duties, declaring that there are others who are much more suited for the task, and thanked him for his efforts with a watch and a bag of KP Nuts. However, it would soon become clear that these events would lead to something far more sinister... 'Prepare Yourself' With the revelation that the Red Ranger was Johnny Cage, he instantly became Public Enemy #1 in the Locker Room despite his huge popularity, and the first person who wanted a piece of him was the General Manager Gabe Newell. Despite the odds being largely against Cage, he managed to do the near-impossible and make Gabe tap. Later in his office, Gabe and Johnny discussed the Ring Ranger situation, mentioning something called the "Ring Ranger Initiative", and Gabe issued an ultimatum; if Johnny couldn't prove that Soldier Black was the real mastermind behind the group, he would recieve...The Punishment. The following week, Cage was assaulted backstage by Mike Haggar, the first victim of the Ring Ranger's attacks last Season, but Johnny was able to fend off the Mayor of Earth. Eventually he was able to confront Guile over his actions, but was unable to get him to confess to his actions despite their constant confrontations, culminating in the Royal Rumble Event when Cage managed to throw Guile over the top-rope, and act that angered Guile, and when confronting Johnny about the event, he revealed that he was going to make Guile talk by beating the info out of him at the Chamber of Elimination PPV. Unfortunately, he had managed to severely underestimate Guile, as he ended up tearing him apart. It was then that Guile revealed the whole truth behind the Ring Rangers and the "Ring Ranger Initiative": some time during Season 6, Guile and Johnny met by chance in a bar, and, under the influence, spouted a ridiculous plan he had made up to get overlooked wrestlers noticed by creating a group of masked men. Guile liked the plan, and The Ring Rangers were formed...with a small difference; while Johnny wanted to put the spotlight on them via peaceful methods, Guile led the group down a much more violent path by making them ambush and attack Main Eventers backstage while disguising himself as Boss Red while Cage was in EDBW, leaving him oblivious to their actions until it was revealed to him. Not only had Guile won the battle, but he had won the war. 'Playground Politics' After putting on an incredible match at End Game 7 (and beating up Kefka), Red and Ness decided to form a team known as PK Chu, defying the age old advice to never ride your bicycle indoors in the process. However, some time later they ran across a gang composed of Groose, Mike Haggar, and The Heavy, mocking Red and challenging them to a match the following week, a match that Groose & His Gang of Bullys won after Haggar made Ness submit. Not giving up in his attempts to make his life a misery, Groose confronted Red the following week and mocked him, only for Red to insult Groose in retaliation, getting Groose so worked up that he challenged him to a match at the upcoming Chamber of Elimination PPV. After a long battle, Red edged out the former VGCW Champion to silence his claims of being past his best. The following week, Groose was besieged to mocking from his own gang members, and vowed that his campaign against Red was not over. After Red managed to earn himself a shot at the Casual Championship, Groose's gang planned to ambush him before the match began to make sure he couldn't win, but before they could, they were scared off by The Dragons and a recently-unroboticized Dan Hibiki. Groose, angered by the P.R.A.T.S. ruining their plans, they turned their attention away from PK Chu and more towards the P.R.A.T.S., vowing to make them pay. Meanwhile, the P.R.A.T.S. were in the ring cutting a promo against the Bullies, saying that, despite Dan's previous dislike towards Red in the past, he had earned his and The Dragons' respect, and that Groose's gang were going down. In the following shows, each of the groups wrestled each other in singles matches in the weeks leading up to End Game 8; Haggar defeated Billy, Jimmy defeated The Heavy, and Groose defeated Dan, culminating in a 6-Man Tag-Team Elimination Match at End Game 8, which the P.R.A.T.S. ultimately won, giving them the victory overall. 'Shadaloo Explodes' At End Game 7, Shadaloo lost the Co-Op Championship to The Saiyans, and Sagat blamed M. Bison for the loss, making note of how he had carried the team to the Co-Op Championship. A few weeks later Sagat was booked to face the VGCW Champion Scorpion in a Non-Title match, only for Bison to interfere and Psycho Crusher Sagat, giving him the win via Disqualification. Despite technically beating the VGCW Champion, Sagat was furious with Bison, and after weeks of bickering between the two, it was decided that they would fight each other...in an I Quit! Match, with the loser being fired from VGCW. After a few more weeks of fired shots (including quite possibly the greatest insult ever produced in VGCW), Bison stunned the VGCW Universe by not only making Sagat quit, but doing so in emphatic fashion. With Sagat gone, Bison used his newly found momentum to become one of the biggest stars in VGCW, including being the only wrestler to defeat a Robot Master, and by assisting Dracula at End Game 8 against the Robot Masters to stop them from reaching Gabe in a futile effort to prevent the nightmare from being unleashed. 'We Are the Dead' After months of planning, The Practice began to make plans to move in on their primary target; however, during one of their talks, they were overheard by Dracula, who realised that if they got hold of their primary target, there would be far greater consequences. He rushed to the GM's office to talk to Adam, explaining the backstory as to how he managed to take over the company at the end of The Great Tournament by manipulating peoples hearts, emotions, and minds, which is how The Drac Pack was formed. But, Dracula revealed that there was one other person that he tried to recruit that he never spoke of; humanity has negative energy, which they expel through various means, such as fighting, yelling, and venting, but the person that Dracula tried to recruit didn't expel their negative energy, which meant it built up, and Dracula tried to take advantage of this, but not even the combined power of Dracula, Majin Vegeta, and Kefka could defeat him, so Dracula removed his spell over him and he returned to normal. Should The Practice try and roboticize him, they would fail, and The Nightmare would be unleashed all over again. However, Adam refused to believe his story due to the events of Wrestlevania, and asked him to leave, leaving an angry Dracula warning him that not only the end of the VGCW is nearing, but the end of the world as well. The Nightmare was coming. At End Game 8, The Practice (and Metal Arino) awaited Gabe in the ring to lure him into the open so the other Robot Masters could overwhelm him. However, the Robot Masters didn't come, as Dracula and M. Bison were backstage holding them off. Proclaiming to have outsmarted them, Gabe turned his attentions to Metal Arino, and vowed to "free the shit out of him", and easily defeated him, leading Wily to angrily chastise him and vow to lock him away forever. However, Bison and Drac were eventually overwhelmed by the Robot Masters and they headed down the ramp to get Gabe. But, in Wily's gloating, he made the mistake of giving Metal Arino a challenge; Get Stronger. Kacho. On. Metal Arino then absorbed all of the other Robot Masters' energy, returning them back to their normal forms. However, Metal Arino then transformed into Super Metal Arino. Adam rushed from backstage to save Gabe, but a disgruntled Proto Man turned his back on the VGCW Universe by hitting Adam with the Blues Driver and proclaimed his loyalty to Super Metal Arino. Now more powerful than anyone, Super Metal Arino declared that he was his own master now, and that The Practice, Gabe, and everyone in the crowd, would be the first of his robot army, and the crowd burst into mass panic, with most in hysterics over not wanting to be a robot, and the others welcoming their new Metal Overlord. Gabe asked Super Metal Arino to leave, and when he didn't comply, he tried to make him leave, but Super Metal Arino was far too strong even for Gabe. Now frightened for his life, Gabe pleaded with Super Metal Arino, but he told him that he didn't have to be frightened as he would live on in HIS robot army. This only served to make Gabe even more hysterical, begged him to leave him alone. Suddenly, a burst of light came from the ring, and when it subsided, Gabe was up on his feet...but he was not the Gabe we knew. His hair was white, his skin darker, his mass now replaced with muscle, and his eyes completely white, and Drac finally emerged from backstage too little too late as Gabe ran at Super Metal Arino and not only beat him hands-down, he demolished him, delivering blow after blow after blow after blow after blow. It was all over. Nightmare Gabe had been unleashed. "There was not a man among them who would let himself be heard. But from the crowd, from the collective fear, arose these broken words: We are the dead We are the dead."''' ''To be continued... ''